Shining light on Facebook's AI strategy

In a speech today at Web Summit, Facebook CTO Mike Schroepfer laid out a vision for the role artificial intelligence and machine learning will play in the company's ambitions to improve global connectivity, technology accessibility, and human computer interaction. "People want to stay connected and close to other people, so whatever is the best current technology to deploy that is the business we want to be in," said Schroepfer. Large companies like Facebook play an incredibly important role in the artificial intelligence and machine learning ecosystem. Their sheer size and ability to corner the market on talent makes almost every strategic decision they make an industry-wide declaration. Despite setbacks, like the explosion of Facebook's satellite aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 earlier this summer, the company remains steadfast in its goals to better connect the world.